Public Photography Turns the Tables — Cops’ Claims Challenged in 1st Amendment Audit

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[00:00:07]Hey yo, don't take the picture.

[00:00:09]It's a little late. Huh? It's a little late.

[00:00:11]>> think I did that picture. Oh, you're definitely in the picture and video.

[00:00:16]Yeah, I'm not asking permission. I'm in public. It's okay, bro. Huh? It's okay.

[00:00:20]I'm in public. It's I don't need permission to take photos. Of people you do, though. No, we don't. No, you don't.

[00:00:25]No, that's that's ridiculous. You're You're in public. There's no expectation of privacy in public. So? So, quit recording me. You're You're good. You're good. I'm in public, so are you. Okay, so if I take it I'm going to take it farther, do you feel me? Like, that's what I'm saying. Keep your camera off.

[00:00:38]You don't know what people got going on.

[00:00:40]I don't really care. I'm in public.

[00:00:41]>> All right.

[00:00:42]Get your camera off.

[00:00:44]No. Yeah, I'm I'm recording you.

[00:00:46]Especially when you tell me not to take pictures of you. Then I'm going to definitely take pictures.

[00:00:49]So? Yeah, you're you're definitely on camera.

[00:00:56]I'm leaving.

[00:00:58]You're still on camera.

[00:01:00]The sooner you leave, the less you the less time you're on camera.

[00:01:04]>> [music] >> Yeah. Grow one, pal. Grow one.

[00:01:10]Excuse me, sir. What are you What are you doing? What begins as a simple moment on a public sidewalk quickly turns into a heated confrontation fueled by misunderstanding and emotion. A man holding a camera records openly in public, something fully protected under the law. But within seconds, strangers begin demanding that he stop filming, insisting he needs permission to record them. Calmly, he explains that there is no expectation of privacy in public spaces. Instead of walking away, several individuals continue escalating the encounter. The cameraman refuses to back down, reminding everyone around him that recording in public is not a crime, no matter how uncomfortable it may make others feel. Baking a cake? What are you doing? No, you're taking pictures of me.

[00:01:58]Oh, okay then. If you know what I'm doing, why'd you ask?

[00:02:04]Oh, cuz I'm a terrible artist. If I draw, I I I get home and it's a I couldn't tell the difference between this place and a Burger King. So, I take photos instead of drawing.

[00:02:15]You got trouble.

[00:02:19]You got trouble.

[00:02:22]Sorry.

[00:02:27]Stop taking pictures of you right now?

[00:02:29]Uh yeah, no. That's not going to happen.

[00:02:31]Get in your little car and drive away.

[00:02:33]There you go. There you go, buddy.

[00:02:35]You're okay. It's all right. It's okay.

[00:02:43]Are you Okay, so help me understand. What Can you tell me exactly what the risk is?

[00:02:50]What's your concern?

[00:02:54]I'm going to have to ask you to stop recording me. It's a security risk for me. See how ridiculous that sounds? It is a security risk. I've got important documents right here in my bag.

[00:03:01]Wait, wait. So, let me ask you a question. First of all, let me ask you a question. Do you think I'm breaking the law right now?

[00:03:06]Okay, so you're going to call law enforcement.

[00:03:09]Ma'am, you're going to feel like an idiot when the police come out here and educate you. I'm not breaking the law.

[00:03:18]What's that?

[00:03:19]Yeah, my friends call me [ __ ] Last name is Q.

[00:03:24]As tensions rise, attention shifts toward a nearby bank where employees become increasingly concerned about the man filming outside. One staff member confronts him directly, accusing him of creating a security threat simply by recording the building and the people inside. The cameraman responds with sarcasm but continues standing his ground, repeatedly asking a simple question no one seems able to answer.

[00:03:51]What law is actually being broken?

[00:03:53]Frustration grows as emotions begin replacing logic. Eventually, the bank employee decides to contact police, convinced that the situation has become dangerous enough to involve emergency services. 222 North Roosevelt Boulevard.

[00:04:09]Okay, is that in front of a business?

[00:04:11]Yes, it's called Atlantic Bank.

[00:04:14]Okay, and what's going on there? We have a gentleman that's standing out on the sidewalk and he keeps taking pictures and filming the bank and he's really freaking out everybody in the bank right now. And every time I've confronted him and asked him to leave or stop recording the staff through the windows, he then gets extremely aggressive and starts yelling at everybody. Is he a white, black, or Hispanic male?

[00:04:36]Uh Is he a white, black, or Hispanic male?

[00:04:39]White. And what's he wearing right now?

[00:04:42]He's wearing a like yellow shirt. He's got a black bag and he's got his phone set up with a camera.

[00:04:49]He's got it behind the counter. With the counter? Oh, no. It's on the counter.

[00:04:53]Yeah.

[00:04:54]>> [music] >> Okay, and what does he Is he wearing pants or shorts or >> Yeah, he's wearing shorts.

[00:04:59]What color? Uh gray.

[00:05:02]Gray shorts? Okay. All right, um have you locked the door or anything like that? Uh we have not locked the door. We probably will though. Um he just cussed out one of our customers that left on the street. Like he got in his face and everything else, so Okay. All right, what is your name?

[00:05:20]>> [music] >> All right, we'll get an officer out there. I have your phone number ending in 8614?

[00:05:28]Okay, yep. That's it. All right, if anything and he tries to get aggressive again, call us back immediately on 911, okay? Okay. During the 911 call, the situation is described in a far more dramatic way than what the camera footage actually shows. The employee claims the man is aggressive, intimidating customers, and making everyone inside the bank feel unsafe.

[00:05:51]Dispatchers gather details about his clothing, location, and behavior while officers are sent to investigate. Yet, the video itself paints a different picture. The man remains mostly stationary on the sidewalk, responding verbally to people who continue approaching him. Situations like this happen often, where exaggerations or emotional reactions transform a perfectly legal activity into what sounds like a criminal disturbance.

[00:06:19]Okay.

[00:06:19]All right, thank you. All right, thank you. Bye.

[00:06:36]What's going on?

[00:06:38]So, this gentleman has been out here taking pictures of the bank, which is fine, but now he's like trying to take pictures in the window. Like he was like zooming in and kept waving at Imani and making like signals to her and stuff. I don't know what he's doing. I tried to speak to him and he got very belligerent with me and told me that he's allowed to do whatever the [ __ ] he wants, so I was like, "Okay." I'm like, "But you're making everyone extremely uncomfortable." I mean, he walked around the side of the building and was like trying to take pictures through the window. I got a video of him just like this.

[00:07:04]Yeah, like he's like in our windows. I'm going to need you to stop recording here. I asked the guy, I was pulling out, I asked him to go in and stop that.

[00:07:11]He said, "You get in your little car and you just get out of here." Okay.

[00:07:15]So, is he on the sidewalk? Yes.

[00:07:18]>> Right now. But he's he's he's he's been on the land inside the property, I think. Hasn't he, Jamie? I haven't seen him walk onto the actual property, but that's the thing, though. He's up against the window, I think. Yeah. This is the property right now.

[00:07:30]Hm? This window that he's in.

[00:07:33]He's been in the window back here. Yeah, so I mean, we can make sure that he's not allowed He's going to be He can't be on the property.

[00:07:40]Um, but from the sidewalk, unfortunately, there's not we can really do.

[00:07:43]Okay. He's on public property.

[00:07:46]Right.

[00:07:47]Uh All right. On private property, that's another story.

[00:07:51]We can remove him. If he's harassing customers, that's a different story.

[00:07:56]So, explain how he harassed you. No, it was basically I'm pulling out of my car.

[00:08:00]I asked him to stop taking pictures. He said, "Oh, you can get in your car and you just get out of here." That's not really harassment.

[00:08:09]I mean, if you're if you're You don't have any reasonable expectation of privacy when you're out in public, correct? You're You're out in I'm in a parking lot. I'm sure I have a I have a reasonable expectation when I'm in a building. When officers finally arrive, they begin speaking with the bank employees to understand the situation. Almost immediately, an important fact becomes clear. The cameraman is standing on a public sidewalk, not private property. Officers calmly explained that if he is not blocking traffic, threatening anyone, or trespassing, there's very little law enforcement can legally do. The employees continue insisting that his behavior is making everyone uncomfortable, but discomfort alone is not a crime. Police also remind them that people in public generally do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, even when cameras are involved.

[00:09:00]It's still in public, see?

[00:09:02]Um if you're in the bathroom, that'd be another story.

[00:09:04]Um basically Can you go out and talk to this guy? Yeah, I can go talk to him.

[00:09:08]We'll go talk to him for sure. Okay. But I mean, from what being out on the sidewalk, he's not But how do you know why he's I asked him why he's doing So, if this is if that [laughter] if this sidewalk is private property, this is owned by the bank, then yes, he can be there.

[00:09:22]>> This is the sidewalk. See, this is the type of doing he's looking at all of us in here, and then he keeps See? Yeah. You've I'm sure you've seen plenty of videos. I have, yeah. Yeah.

[00:09:32]Okay. Oh, this is like a public sidewalk. No, I I know about him. I've never met him, but But it's like when he comes up to the windows and I Yeah, like he's like in the window.

[00:09:42]Yeah. not I mean, people's bank accounts and stuff. Okay. Um so, is that This is your property? Yes. Sidewalk as well? Okay.

[00:09:51]All right.

[00:09:52]So I let you guys know to say something, too. It's like I said, I tried saying something to him. He's just making everyone feel uncomfortable. Oh, yeah.

[00:09:59]That's what I mean. That's what That's what he's doing. He's out here with his phone. He's recording.

[00:10:03]Just to try and get a rise out of us. Okay.

[00:10:09]But I mean, if he's in public on the sidewalk, as long as he's not obstructing traffic, he's not obstructing anybody's traffic on the sidewalk.

[00:10:16]I mean, he's not really breaking any laws there.

[00:10:18]Okay.

[00:10:19]All right. But we'll tell him he's not allowed on the property. You guys don't want him on your property. Yeah.

[00:10:25]Okay.

[00:10:26]That's pretty much Yeah.

[00:10:28]So, he can't come up here. Put his phone up against the window. Yeah, cuz that's pretty much what was making us feel uncomfortable. And like the way he just tried to mess with her is aggravating.

[00:10:37]So. Okay.

[00:10:39]Yeah. All right. We'll go talk to him.

[00:10:41]Okay. Thank you. Yep.

[00:10:43]You got it.

[00:10:50]Hello.

[00:10:52]Is you guys okay? You guys have like a mental health department or something that can check on these folks? Who's that?

[00:10:58]You guys have a mental health department that can check on these folks? Check on these folks? Yeah. They're not doing anything wrong. Well, neither am I. I'm glad you guys came out, but I've got some I've got some pretty confidential documents in my bag here, and I was walking by and I saw all their cameras on the outside of the building taking pictures of me.

[00:11:14]Well, that's just crazy, you know? So, I was going to call 911, and then I thought, "No. Well, that's not an emergency. Yeah, that's not an emergency. And And how stupid would that be to take a call 911 on somebody taking photos in public? Anyways, what are you guys here for?

[00:11:28]Well, so basically The officers then approach the cameraman directly, and the conversation takes a calmer but still tense tone. The man questions why police were called at all, arguing that recording in public should never be treated like an emergency. He strongly denies accusations that he stepped on a private property or pressed his camera against the windows. In fact, he challenges the officers to provide proof of any wrongdoing. While officers acknowledge that filming from a sidewalk is legal, they still caution him to avoid entering bank property. The camera man insists the employees exaggerated the story and falsely portrayed him as aggressive.